Organizer pooh-poohs county's canceling of Tucson bull run

The “Cinco de Mayo Bull Run Festival” at Old Tucson has been canceled, Pima County officials said Tuesday.

But the organizer says he was surprised to hear about the festival being a no-go and called the county’s cancellation a pile of malarkey.

The “Cinco De Mayo Bull Run Festival” was set to happen from Friday, May 2, through Sunday, May 4, with runs each day in which people would pay to outrun 12 bulls that would be released in waves of four onto the 15-foot wide course.

The “contracted vendor was unable to provide proof of the required insurance as required” by the county, Jan Lesher, the county administrator, said in a memo. And Natalie Eleftheriadis, Old Tucson’s marketing manager, confirmed Thursday that Glendale-based Bullrun Festival, organizers of the event, had been unable to provide the required insurance.

The cancellation was news to Chad Merwin, Bullrun’s event manager. He said Thursday that neither he nor his partner, Phil Immordino, had not been told “anything at all” of the event being called off.

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“No one’s ever talked to us, no one’s ever approached us. This is the very first time we’ve actually heard of anything. So from that perspective, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure (Lesher) gets whatever she needs, and we hope that she’s being truthful, that there’s not some other agenda or something that someone’s trying to cancel us,” Merwin said Thursday.

“We upgraded our insurance also, so that seems farfetched ... I’m just kind of dumbfounded that that was going to be their first take on it.”

Despite the memo, Merwin said that he and his staff are still “100% full-steam ahead” in getting ready to have the festival.

“I can tell you, it’s been thousands (of people) that we’ve had that have inquired to come forward, and that have moved forward and actually purchased tickets,” he said. “We want to do everything we can to make sure that this thing goes forward, and that location is great too.”

Pima County, Old Tucson’s landlord, did not appear concerned about any liability over the event when it was first reported by the Star in early February.

In a February memo, Lesher told County Supervisors that “Full responsibility for the event ultimately rests with American Heritage Railways and the event promoter, and not with Pima County.”